Double Sided Stampled Charm Bracelet

 Hard to believe it's 2014 already.  So much going on since my little son started school this fall...We weren't sure what to expect with our Etsy shop through the Holiday season and we were very busy right up until Christmas.  We feel so blessed that our customers choose to purchase our things out of all the many talented shop owners who are creating unique handmade items

 This bracelet is special...mostly because of who I made it for.  The charms are double sided and this is the first time I've stamped on the front and the back.  I think it works because it's 20 gauge sterling and anything thinner probably wouldn't handle that very well...

 When we switched our son to all day kindergarten I had to start driving him to and from school.  So I met another Momma while waiting with him in the mornings and afternoons...

 Every great once in awhile you meet someone and almost right away you just have a connection--

We just seem to have so much in common...
During one of our conversations our Etsy shop came up 

 Her husband bought her this bracelet over the Holidays...
and I was so excited to make it for her.  
It's always fun to make things for people that we know and especially people that you know will really appreciate it.

We had a wonderful Christmas this year and as usual I had some tools on my wish list.  My husband bought me a soldering kit so I can attempt to teach myself how to solder sterling, copper and brass.  My ultimate goal is to learn how to bezel set stones and to make my own closures for my jewelry...we'll see!

Leather Guitar Pick Key Ring Fob

 This was a request from a friend I go to church with...

her husband plays in our worship team and she wanted this as a Christmas gift for him...

 It's a fun piece to make since it goes together pretty quickly being so small.  Makes a nice little gift item for the musicians you may know... 

After trying out the pattern I decided to make several in different colors tan is in the back on the left, the natural leather is in the middle, and the dark brown is on the right...

 Our son asked for a guitar for Christmas so he got the original to hold a few guitar picks.  We gave one to a guy my husband works with because he loaned us some picks to help get our pattern right. The last one went to our worship leader at church as a Christmas gift.

I had 3 picks in it and our worship leader had about 10 so it will hold alot...and the leather softens and ages so well.

 I have a few more things to share now that everything has been given away as gifts.  It's crazy to think that on Christmas morning so many people were giving away things that we had made.  We don't take it lightly and feel so honored that we can share our talent...

God has been good to us, and chosen to bless our little shop with a great year so all the credit goes to Him

Slipcovered Chair and Ottoman for Boy's Nursery

I posted about the latest slipcover I was working on  a few days ago HERE.  The chair (with 2 loose cushions) and ottoman all covered with 8 yards of fabric....

 The fabric is beautiful...a pale duck egg blue with the white and grey birds....

It is really fun to see it where it belongs...she sent me these photos of the baby's nursery and it's all very soft and subtle...

 I love the pale colors --

 living in an older home with low ceilings I tend to pick those types of colors myself.

 The alphabet animal poster and the buffet changing table reminds me of all the Restoration Hardware nurseries you see in their magazines....

 This little bird mobile caught my eye too;

 she told me she made it from some of her old clothes....

Very cute...

Nice to see it where it will be living permenantly....and nice to have it completed for her after working on it for so long!

She has been so patient.

I'm sure she's happy to have it in the room to use with their little one...

Cutting Plan for Slipcovering Chair

 My very first cutting plan...

This slipcover is for the same friend that had me slipcover this chair....

 She has been patiently waiting on me.  I promised to do this for her and then we opened our Etsy shop and our booth space. 

 Needless to say it's taken me awhile.  She went ahead and bought her fabric (8 yards) back in the winter and it is now discontinued.  Yikes.  So I knew I was going to need to cut all my pieces ahead which are all rolled and labeled

 This is what I had left!  Needless to say I had the  cutting plan in my sketch book and I added all my measurements/number several times to make sure my math was right BEFORE I started cutting....I knew it was going to be close.

 The fabric is gorgeous.  The pale blue with the white and dark grey is very soft...

This is for her new son's nursery

 I usually make a box pleat in the back but since I was trying to stretch the fabric as far as it could go I decided on a zipper.  It sits nicely in the back under the piping...

 My first zipper in a slipcover but it went in pretty easily....

I also decided to go with a waterfall style pleat which I had seen on Shelly's blog.  If you've not visited her blog you should.  Especially if are a fan of slipcovers.  Her work is beautiful And read her story of how she got started...

She has a very successful business sewing slipcovers that she started out of her home when she decided to become a stay at home momma.  She very generously shared photos with me which I highly appreciated!  And she has an instructional e-book available, and I think a second one that is available or will be soon with more advanced skills.

Necklace Restyled

I just finished up this jewelry set for someone....

 A sweet lady I know (who now lives far away) had a necklace that she liked....

But it broke and she was going to get rid of it.

While packing to move, she said she was going to throw it out &
Another friend of ours suggested letting me do something with it...

I reconnected the necklace a little differently and attached the beads another way as well...

 Green is one of my favorite colors too and I like the little enamel flower....

I was even able to make a pair of earrings for her...

Hope you like them friend!  

I enjoyed creating with all the colors and beads...

Eastern Black Swallowtail

Meet Katy #2....earlier this summer my sweet little son found a caterpillar and then cried when he took it out and dropped it....

For his birthday he got one of the coolest gifts ever...

a caterpillar castle (a square netted cube) and 3 caterpillars.

A wonderful, giving couple we go to church with like to grow plants to attract the butterflies, and she hunts for the eggs and baby caterpillars to watch them grow and transform....

 She knew how much Seth loved this sort of thing and decided to share with him.  And we felt honored to have them.

 Thursday afternoon we found our first empty chrysalis and this little beauty below....

 Her wings were still damp I think.  So she decided to hang out and visit with us.  Doodlebug said "it was like she wanted to get to know me and be my friend!"

AMAZING...

 So many wonders in the world when you look...especially when you are 5!  One of the best parts of being a parent I think....seeing things through the eyes of your child.

 Just watching so close and getting to really see her and how different she looks from how she started....

I wonder if when God looks at the caterpillar He can see the butterfly the whole time?

 Wow --and they only live a few days this way...such a short time after they've come so far.

 Absolutely fascinating to see her in this much detail...

 And I will never forget my little son talking to her like she's a person telling her about his day in his innocent way...

 She stayed for about 10 or 15 minutes and watching her and watching my son with her was a little bit of magic on a plain, old Thursday afternoon....

Something new...Phish!

December is always such a whirlwind of activity...  I made many things to give away as gifts, and many things for others to give away as gifts....

 so I've been holding back until after I knew they'd been given to post any photos!!! 

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And I have to say I feel really honored that people would choose to have me make something for them to give.  So THANK -YOU to those of you who asked me!!!  It was fun to be a part of your Holidays too!!!

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This is by far one of the coolest things I've made so far...a "Phish" key ring for a friend of mine to give to her husband....

 This is the drawing I came up with...she was looking at some ideas on etsy where they incorporated the number of shows you've been to with a fish scale symbol.

 So I started with a drawing on paper.  Cut it out and traced it onto some aluminum...What you see below is after snipping it out with tin snips (my husband bought me a jewelry saw for Christmas!!!) ALOT of filing and sanding....

These on the red background are when it's almost finished...

I sent her some photos so she could see how it was looking...

 I used my upper case "D" to create 50 scales...I must have counted and recounted about 50 times! 

  Then to finish it off I used scotchbrite to give it a brushed look... I really like the finish.  I usually hammer my pieces but lately  I 've been liking the simple look this has.  A lot cleaner looking...

 I had a lot of fun with the challenge of making it work and figuring it all out...

Very unique....

Leather Anniversary bracelets

This is a set of bracelets I just finished up for a couple I know...

The one below is his...

 His initials, her initials and their wedding date...

I used the rivet setter for the first time :) so that was fun!

 This one is hers...

 I did their wedding date on a brass circle then each of their initials on a small, sterling rectangle....

 The first leather bracelets I made were 15 inches long to wrap twice so for this one I wanted to play around with a third wrap (it's 22 and 1/2 inches long)....

 I've been playing around with the widths too...lots of possibilities....